Jennifer Livingston, a small town news anchor, created a video that went nationally viral just in time for Anti-Bullying Month. In response to a viewer who chided the La Crosse, Wisconsin television personality for being overweight, Livingston went on the air to decry his attack on Tuesday morning. Kenneth Krause has since backed down from this statement, after sending it launched a public discussion of what many call “fat shaming.”
“I was surprised indeed to witness that your physical condition hasn’t improved for many years,” the viewer told the reporter over email. “Surely you don’t consider yourself a suitable example for this community’s young people, girls in particular. Obesity is one of the worst choices a person can make and one of the most dangerous habits to maintain. I leave you this note hoping that you’ll reconsider your responsibility as a local public personality to present and promote a healthy lifestyle.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIwBwJzl5eI
Livingston denounced this attempt at bullying her in a segment approved by the managers of her home station WKBT-TV.
“Yes, the truth is, I am overweight,” Livingston said in a direct address to the cameras. “You could call me fat and, yes, even obese on a doctor’s chart. But to the person who wrote me that letter, do you think I don’t know that? You don’t know me. You are not a friend of mine. You are not a part of my family… So you know nothing about me, but what you see on the outside. And I am much more than a number on a scale.”
Sharing that she is a mother of three, Livingston reminded watchers that October is Anti-Bullying Month. She sees Krause’s behavior as a prime example of an epidemic of bullying that occurs in school and on the Internet — abuse she fears her daughters might some day be exposed to.
“This behavior is learned. It is passed down from people like the man who wrote me that email,” Livingston said. “If you are at home and you are talking about the ‘Fat News Lady,’ guess what? Your children are probably going to go to school and call someone fat. We need to teach our kind to be kind, not critical, and we need to do that by example.”
Livingston decided to respond to her critic after her husband posted Krause’s message on Facebook. She received a groundswell of support. “The post was liked by roughly 1,900 people and commented on [by] nearly 3,000,” according to the International Business Times.
Since the airing of her response segment, Livingston’s encounter with her “fat shamer” has been discussed nationally, sparking discussions of how to curb bullying and the pressure on women to be thin.
“Her response went viral for one simple reason, it resonated with people,” posted black women’s web site Clutch Magazine. “All of us at some point have been judged and the more outside of the supposed norm we are, the more likely we are to have experienced this sort of abuse.”
CNN anchor Soledad O’Brien was so outraged by Livingston’s abuser that she revealed his identity on national television, a move Livingston did not attempt on her local station. In an interview with the Wisconsin TV host O’Brien said she thought to herself, “‘if I were Jennifer, I would go ahead and name him.’ And, so, his name is Kenneth Krause, and he actually is standing by his email.”
After being outed Krause defended his statement for a time — even offering Livingston personal assistance should she choose to lose weight as he recommended. In a second email, Krause offers these words of explanation for his critique:
Given this country’s present epidemic of obesity and the many truly horrible diseases related thereto, and considering Jennifer Livingston’s fortuitous position in the community, I hope she’ll finally take advantage of a rare and golden opportunity to influence the health and psychological well-being of Coulee region children by transforming herself for all of her viewers to see over the next year – And to that end I would be absolutely pleased to offer her any advice or support she would be willing to accept.
His willingness to “advise” Livingston was drowned out by the continuing cries of anger elicited by Krause’s original claim that Livingston is a bad role model merely for being overweight.
“The person called me obese and I can deal with that and being called fat, but it was calling me a bad role model that really rubbed me the wrong way,” Livingston said in an interview on the Today show.
Krause has recently apologized for his comments and the hurt feelings he inflicted, not only recanting his position, but also making a revelation. “If she is offended, I truly apologize to Jennifer,” Krause told ABC News. “That’s the last thing I ever wanted to do.”
Krause has since learned that Livingston has a thyroid condition that makes it hard for her to lose weight, despite being a triathlete. Ironically, Krause admitted that he was also obese once — as a child. “I’ve been fighting all my life,” he said about struggling with his weight.
Noting that he is a security guard and not an attorney as the media originally reported, Krause told ABC News that he does not think he is in the social position to bully anyone. “She’s a big media personality. I’m just a working stiff.”
Follow Alexis Garrett Stodghill on Twitter at @lexisb.